A Dwarf Among Giants
MEDIUM:
Canvas board-assemblage: molding paste, tar, circular pins, postage stamp, acrylic on canvas board, matted, label.
ARTWORK:
15″ x 23″ x 1″ Matted (mat widow opening 11¼” x 9¾”)
FRAME:
Natural maple finished wood.
31¼” x 17¼” x 2″
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Please enlarge visually by clicking.
Note: The spacecraft “New Horizon” after nine years traveling five billion kilometers in our solar system accomplished a flyby of the dwarf planet Pluto in 2015. During that year I wrote a congratulatory letter to the head scientist, Alan Stern. The letter included a copy of my artwork, “Goodbye Pluto” should he find it interesting. A copy of this letter is found on the back of the artwork.
DRAFT
Designated a dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union.
Pluto was ”…among the growing number of icy objects found beyond Neptune and left it unmentioned and out of view among our models for the rocky, terrestrial objects (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) and the gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune).” 1. Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Artist Note: The planet Pluto was discovered in 1930 by astronomer, Clyde Tombaugh and is located some 4.6 billion miles from Earth. Pluto was named after the Roman God of the underworld who held court over the dead. Pluto might of remained dead or undiscovered if the opinion by the art critic, John Ruskin (1819- 1900) had prevailed. In 1872 he wrote: “…. For all practical purposes, the stars already named and numbered are as many as we require to hear of…you will have as much astronomy as is necessary, either for the occupation of thought, or the direction of navigation.” 2.
During 2006-2015 the space probe “New Horizon” was launched and nine years later did a flyboy of the demoted dwarf planet Pluto revealing many of its secrets. The probe will continue its voyage entering the interstellar Kuiper Belt and beyond.
Artwork: The artwork highlights our solar system’s eight remaining planets, the five moons of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt’s multiple dwarf planets that once included the second largest dwarf planet named Eris.
Footnotes: 1. Tyson, Neil deGrasse: The Pluto Files, W.W.Norton, N.Y. 2009. 2. Ruskin, John: The Power of Modesty in Science and Art, The Relation of Natural Sciences to Art, Lecture IV, February 17, 1872. Refer: Stern, Alan: Pluto Revealed, Scientific American, December, 2017.